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Enron and Thomas White, cont'd
Paul Krugman's column for Tuesday takes former Enron honcho and current army secretary Thomas White to task, referring to Jason Leopold's groundbreaking reporting in Salon about White's dubious-at-best role in padding Enron's profits at a critical time in the company's downward spiral.
Choice quote:
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Mr. Cheney supposedly chose Thomas White for his business expertise. But when it became apparent that the Enron division he ran was a money-losing fraud, the story changed. We were told that Mr. White was an amiable guy who had no idea what was actually going on, that his colleagues referred to him behind his back as "Mr. Magoo." Just the man to run the Army in a two-front Middle Eastern war, right? |
Or, as I put it in July, "Army secretary Thomas White is a former Enron official who either (A) knew what was happening at that company and therefore shares responsibility in its ignominy or (B) was completely in the dark about Enron's escapades. A he's a crook, B he's a boob..."
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ONA nominations
The Online Journalism Awards nominations have just been announced, and we're proud that Salon is a finalist in three different categories: for "General Excellence / Independent" (that's us); for Jake Tapper's great Enron reporting; and for Asra Nomani's feature writing from Central Asia last year after 9/11. Lots of other high-quality nominations as well.
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Inspector or general?
Saddam Hussein has apparently told the U.N. that he will "unconditionally" accept weapons inspectors back into Iraq.
The Bush administration is already saying it will not take him at face value, which seems sensible given his track record. But meanwhile I'm sure the gears at the U.N. are turning. Either this inspection mission will happen (doubtful but possible) or the administration hawks who've warned that Saddam will just use new inspections to procrastinate and confuse the situations will be proven right. Either way, it's an important and necessary development.
This entire sequence of events is one that, critics of the administration have long insisted, needed to happen before the U.S. begins any military action aimed at "regime change." The Cheney/Rumsfeld "go it alone" axis seemed to balk at that need all summer. But they have not prevailed -- as Josh Marshall keeps pointing out.
If we go to war, let it be in concert with a community of nations whom Saddam Hussein has collectively resisted, not in isolation as an act of imperial prerogative. Let it be a last resort of regrettable necessity, not a first resort of convenience.
Better yet, let's achieve our goals without ever needing to launch an invasion or start another war. That's what diplomacy is all about, and that's why we have a United Nations. And it can happen -- unless Bush and his team are so determined to have a war that they keep raising the goalposts.
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Blog panel: Tuesday
I'll be joining Rebecca Blood, Meg Hourihan, Dan Gillmor and J.D. Lasica on a panel about weblogs and journalism at the Berkeley Journalism School Tuesday evening at 6:30 PM. Info is here. It's free and I expect we'll have a spirited discussion.
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DSL hell? Heaven? Maybe purgatory
My DSL service at home -- from SBC, formerly Pac Bell -- went down this weekend. After reviewing my usual "Is it a problem on my end?" checklist, I picked up the phone to call their service line, something I undertake with considerable dread. The couple of other times this has happened I'd gotten recorded messages at the other end saying, essentially, "We've got a big problem at our end, we know about it and we're working on it" -- which was fine, it was all I needed to know, and indeed they've solved those problems fast.
This time it was a problem more specific to my service. The bad news is I spent well over an hour on the phone line with them; the good news is, the tech at the other end of the line seemed to know what she was doing -- which is so often not the case these days -- and we got the problem fixed. That seems about all one can expect.
And so I see that Yahoo and SBC are partnering on a big new DSL plan. I know tales of DSL woe are legion, but my experience remains good.
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